Finger exercises

[Darin&Bea]

I know there are plenty of resources out there on learning how to play the mandolin, but I have been finding my main problem is weak fingers and stiff joints! Especially my pinkie and ring fingers! It is very frustrating when all I get is a 'plunk' instead of a pretty note because I cannot get the strings pressed down hard enough.

Anyone know of good finger exercises to help strengthen my fingers and loosen up the tendons? The mandolin is the first stringed instrument I have tried to play. Also, I have small hands and rather short fingers.

Bea

[John S]

I bet you'll get plenty good replies to this one, but here's my 2 cents.

1) First make sure you mando is set up correctly, specifically the saddle height and nut height. If the strings are too high, you'll be needlessly pressing down too hard to fret the notes.

2) If you don't have tough callouses built up yet, switch to light gauge strings and play those for a while. If you use heavy gauge strings and have to press down really hard on them to fret the notes, that gorilla grip will be a hard habit to break later on when you don't need quite so much pressure. When you build up callouses, you'll find you don't have to press so hard to cleanly fret the string.

3) if your mando is set up correctly and you've got your callouses and you still find you don't have strong enough fingers to fret, I'd personally just recommend slowing down and playing at a speed where you can focus on each individual note. IMO, this should provide plenty of exercise for your finger muscles to develop.

4) If you're stiff (or even if you're not), make sure you start each practice session with 5-10 minutes or so of stretching! #Stretch your fingers, your thumbs, your wrists, your forearms, shoulders, etc. And when you practice, start out real slow until you're feeling warmed up.

Those are my little tidbits of wisdom

[Darin&Bea]

[QUOTE]1) First make sure you mando is set up correctly, specifically the saddle height and nut height. If the strings are too high, you'll be needlessly pressing down too hard to fret the notes.[QUOTE]

This is where I get nervous I am afraid of ruining the instrument, especially since it is really Hubby's. How does one know if the saddle is too high? And what nut height? The ones that raise and lower the saddle? (Oh, yeah, we're talking MAJOR nOObs here. )

[John S]

Hi Bea,

The best thing you can do is take it to a music store that specializes in acoustic instruments (drive a little bit if you have to) and ask them to set it up for you. Let them know you're starting out and want light gauge strings. They'll adjust the saddle, nut, truss rod and dress the frets for optimum playability. The cost should be minimal but the benefits will be great.

[Tom C]

learn to play Jubilee. The 2nd part is a bit of a finger buster and make good strength practice.

[Christine W]

I don't know of any excercises besides strtetching which has been mentioned already but I have some encouragement. I had the same problem and sometimes still do but it has gotten easier the more I play. It's amazing to me because things like a full G chord chop hurt so bad and now I can do it. It' takes time, that answere may seem lame and generic but it's true. Be patient with yourself. If you practice it will come............ and the advice of making sure it's set up properly is a must.

[AmosMoses]

As mentioned, string height and string guage will greatly affect playability. After using light strings exclusively, I recently switched to heavy guage. I was surprised at how much harder I had to press the strings to play clean. Mando sounded better though so I kept at it. Exercises to strengthen your hand could help. Try squeezing a ball for half hour a day while you are watching TV.

[Jeff A]

many online dealers have a product called gripmaster. It is specifically designed to increase individual finger strength. Look at Elderly,they have it.

[Dave Hicks]

If you work those fingers, you'll gradually build up their strength. One way to do that is to fret at the 7th fret instead of playing an open string (e.g. a string, 7th fret in place of e string, open).

[Ted Eschliman]

I'm not big on exercise grippers, balls, squeezers, only because there's no substitute for getting right on to the fingerboard.
Here's a sneak peak at a method book I'm working on, a sample exercise:
Ionian Mandology
It's good for a pinky workout. Be sure to use the pinky on the 5th fret instead of the open string. Give it some time, though, it may be several weeks, if not months.

[Jeanne]

For me, by far the most useful thing I have done to strengthen all my fingers (especially my pinky) was to learn to play Bach. His pieces transcribed for mandolin are not easy, but well worth the effort.

Check out the Mel Bay book "J.S. Bach for Mandolin" by Robert Bancalari.

[John Ritchhart]

A classical guitarist taught me this exercise. (If you're right handed otherwise reverse it) put your right arm across your chest as if it was a fretboard. Reach underneath with your left hand and place your fingers on your right forearm like you are fretting it. Then the fun part. Raise your index and ring fingers at the same time while leaving the middle and ring finger down. Then switch them. Raise the middle and pinkie while putting the index and ring back down. Do this in unison. Do this over and over. At first it's really slow and awkward but the more you do it, the more accurate and faster you get. This guy could do it at blinding speed. The great thing about it is you build coordination, strength, and speed and you can do it anywhere. I like to do it in those hours long meetings where you're bored to tears.

[atetone]

If you suffer from joint pain be careful of those Gripmasters.
Maybe I went a little overboard with mine but I put myself out of picking action for months from overdoing it with one of those.
Took a long time to recover, and for a while there I figured my mando days were over.
Maybe they work for some people but be careful.

[Jim Roberts]

Great excercise, Ted, and thanks!

A great song that is an excercise for me is John Reischman's arrangement of "President Garfield's Hornpipe" in Bb. #I wish I would have recorded John playing this at the #2004 Mandofest afternoon workshop. #Needless to say, John did it beautifully and effortlessly.

If anyone would like a copy of this, PM me with your fax # and I'll shoot you a copy.

Cheers!

[ShaneJ]

There are some great exercises in the TablEdit files at Co-Mando.com & on the Chris Thile DVD that helped me develop my pinky ability. The main thing, as said already, is to USE the pinky rather than other fingers or an open string. Playing closed position scales, etc. forwards and backwards will do the trick. Thile talks some about warming up and stretching the fingers and not playing so much as to hurt yourself. You have to build muscle strength in little muscles you've not used much before and it takes a little time. If you play the scales every day for 10 or 15 minutes, in a month or less you'll see a BIG difference in your finger strength and coordination.

Good luck!

[evanreilly]

One of my exercise 'toys' is a set of Chinese medicine balls, the large steel ones that are hollow & produce bell-tones. I use a pair in each hand and get them to roll both ways, clock-wise & counter-clocwise. A very good exercise for mobility and the circulation.